Week One Is Done: Album Sessions Day 5

Hey Soul Mates,
last night we completed our first week of recording. It felt good to walk out of the studio with our preliminary material. We wrapped up the evening with Bryan laying down guitar parts on Roosevelt's Revue. The other track we spent time on was Sucka. Which is so slamming it hurts. I had nice talks with Adam & Doug today about our progress and everyone feels that the album will be a real showcase. We're sure you, our fans will groove with it.

We are due back in about 2 weeks to continue working on the guitar parts and a few bass fixes. Then vocals and keyboards, piano, clavinet... In the meantime, we have our work cut out for ourselves. Lots of listening to do. Refining parts, deciding on arrangements. I spent much of the day singing along to the tracks. That's very cool for me. Usually, when we've recorded, the vocals were cut within hours of the backing or the backing wasn't available to me. Not a lot of time to rehearse, polish and make choices for phrasing, breathing, etc. Or, in rehearsals and practice, I'm concentrating on singing and playing bass at the same time. But now, I've got an album's worth of RHS karaoke!

Being out of the loop the past few nights, I've got to catch up on Lost and American Idol.

I'm excited about tomorrow. I've been invited to a friend's birthday party and everyone has been encouraged to bring their vinyl albums and 45s. Last time he had a soiree, I wound up DJing for an hour. I dig that Wax!
Love, Power, Peace

Short + Sweet: Album Sessions Day 4

Good Morning, Soul Mates.
Short, because I'd like to get to bed before 2 a.m. this morning. Sweet, because that's what we do.

The sessions were once again productive. This time I was the lone band member in attendance. Steve was working his magic on the boards, mixing drums and bass. The cuts we concentrated on were Everyone's Ingenue and Everything My Heart Desires. We'll get an earlier start tomorrow afternoon for a full 8 hour session (I might get there a little early to stroll to the ocean). Our focus will be Roosevelt's Revue and Sucka.

After tomorrow, our sessions go on hiatus while Steve records other clients and Adam's band hits the road. I know Doug mentioned that he'd catch up with the Chaos Band at Old Ironsides in Sacto. But we will refine parts and work with our tracking thus far. I'm particularly excited for working out vocal arrangements.

As advertised: that's it. I'll check in again soon.
Love, Power, Peace

Bass-O-Matic '76: Album Sessions Day 3

Hey Soul Mates,
It's early morning in the city. Got home from the Lincoln Lounge at exactly 2. Snacking on sponge cake from Chinatown.

More forward progress in the studio tonight. When Bryan and I arrived, Steve and Adam had been at work for an hour mixing drums and finding places for me to redo (aka overdub) bass parts. Steve was particularly articulate explaining to me what kind of performances the tracks needed. And the fact that he said "more (like) Cameo, than the Time" told me this cat knows his funk.

I put it down on Fall Out and U Had The $. In fact, with an assist from the production squidod, I found a whole new way to play my bass riff on $. Eye-opening and tighter, thus funkier. Plus, a little peer pressure goes a long way, as Chaos Band bassist Teresa Cowles again was in the house. Can't sound shabby with her around. She bags on me as it is for always playing with a pick. But even she was shakin' her booty to the groove. We also selected the master take for Everything My Heart Desires. The crucial track for the album, if you ask me.

While Adam had his laptop out, we insisted on introducing everyone in the studio to Little Superstar. If you haven't seen this dancing sensation, now's the time. As you may have guessed, there's a lot of time for serious thought and focused performances when you are recording. But sometimes you have to step away from what you're doing, so you don't burn out your ears. Witnessing Little Superstar is just one of the many ways to get re-centered. We also took a walk to the local convenience store and read a new article in Spin Magazine that mentioned Adam by name and Teresa as an "ex-bandmate." Hilarity ensued.

Callie has just joined me in the office. We went for a short trip round the block. Dang, winter is back in SoCal. Call me a neat-freak, anybody else clean their dog's paws after a muddy walk?

By Midnight, Bryan was finally getting some time with Steve, discussing amps and guitar tones. Not my forte at all. While they were determining how to capture Bryan's sound, I picked up a copy of Carl Hiassen's Sick Puppy that was on a console. The first 12 pages had me laughing out loud. Thanks for the lend, Steve. I'll endeavor to have it back quickly. It will tide over my fiction reading until my buddy Mike's new novel Jacob Have I Loved arrives.

More time is scheduled for the studio later tonight. I'll see if I can get to sleep at a reasonable hour this week. Ha ha.
Love, Power, Peace

Picture This: Album Sessions Day 2

RHS at the Lincoln Lounge. Tuff. On a break during today's session.

All right, Soul Mates!
The rhythm tracks are nearly done on our new LP. We managed to get all of the drums finished today and after a productive session, Doug headed back up north. Our all day marathon saw us work out all of the numbers for the album. We started with Fall Out which is simply a jam. We cut it a bit faster than anticipated, but it moves like a locomotive. Done Lost My Mind, plus our two newest songs, Roosevelt's Revue and I Can't Cry For You rounded us out.

Time for photographs. Please bear in mind these are from my camera and are not the HQ pics you are accustomed to seeing of us. Even so, it will give you an idea of our surroundings. And you can see that we are alive and well.



The band. Not as tired as we appear.

Adam's production notes for our LP.

We were pretty loose this afternoon and that helped. Plus the Mr. T talking key chain kept everyone in check! "Grrrrrrr."


Bryan, Doug and I got into some of the studio toys, too, including walkie talkies, a toy piano and record albums that decorate a hallway.

Doug lays down a killer keyboard part.


"I can't live without my radio!"


Bryan and Doug share a moment.


Ah, yes. The Dance Party LP. Strickly inspiration for this crew. And Strickly Dan Stuckey! Paso Doble, anyone?

After the primary playing was done, Steve and Adam got to work mixing the drums and overdubbing a few flubbed bass parts. Mmmm... I wonder who that was? It's been a learning experience working with Messrs. Refling and Marsland. They have really put a lot of thought into the project and have done a great job of coaxing wonderful performances from us thus far.

Here's the only known photograph of Rush Hour Soul and the producers. Hope you liked the pictures. Another day of bringing it at the Lincoln Lounge.

I have to tell you, I've lost a lot of faith in dentists in the past 5 years. My visit the other day, not swell. I've got one molar that had been bugging me, but by cutting back on refined sugar it had not worsened. But, the dentist decided to test the veracity of my claim of tooth sensitivity by tapping on it repeatedly with the back end of the tartar scraper. WTF!? That hurt like hell and what was sensitivity has become a constant ache. Viva dentists!

Enjoy your Presidents' Day. Celebrate the unsung Presidents today. Even Coolidge and Pierce are destined to "grace" the new $1 coin. We'll be back at the studio the next few nights, I'll report back soon. It's late. Been up since 8 a.m.
Love, Power, Peace

Album Sessions Day 1

Gung Hay Fat Choy, Soul Mates,
or something like it. It's Chinese New Year's. An auspicious weekend to be in the studio. We are done for the evening. Doug and I have been chilling watching Justin Timberlake do his thing on an SNL repeat. D*** in a Box is still hilarious. And JT and his band tore up My Love.

Our day was long and productive. It was our first day of new recording sessions. We haven't been in the studio since Wales last June. Rush Hour Soul was in full-effect at the Lincoln Lounge in Venice Beach. Got down there about 11 a.m. Nice to be by the ocean.

We tracked drums for 6 songs this afternoon and evening. The numbers we cut today were Everything My Heart Desires, Fall Out, Down By Love, U Had The $, Everyone's Ingenue and Sucka. The sounds captured by our production team of Steve Refling and Adam Marsland are slamming. The drums are hitting hard and the bass is deep. I've got the blister on my thumb to prove it. There will be some serious dancing to this album. It's going to be a groove!

We've got more work and playing ahead of us tomorrow. Our goal is to record the basics for 4 additional songs before we start in on vocals and guitar parts.

If you have a spare hour and 1/2 to go to the movies, Music & Lyrics is cute and quite funny. A great date movie and it was a gas to see Hugh Grant portray a musical has-been. Brad Garrett was quite good as his manager. Drew Barrymore is the epitome of cute, but never cloying. As a musician, I probably had a better appreciation for some of the industry jokes and being a child of the 80's is helpful. Lots of references to the new wave and new romantic groups I grew up with, as well as stabs at reality TV and today's spiritually vapid "pop-kinds" (did I just coin a phrase?). Regardless, there is certainly worse out there for new movies.

Love, Power, Peace